Throat swab holder

ABSTRACT

An improved throat swab holder for use by an attendant or by the patient himself, and which is capable of removably supporting a wad of absorbent cotton, or the like, the absorbent cotton being saturated with an appropriate medicament. THe swab holder of the invention is constructed to have a shape appropriate for its easy insertion into the throat of the patient, and to have no sharp ends or edges. The swab holder is formed of a continuous wire which is looped at one end to form a handle or finger grip, and which is looped at the other end to form a means for holding a wad of absorbent cotton, or the like, in a locked position.

United States Patent McPherson 1 July 11, 1972 THROAT SWAB HOLDER 2 1] Appl. No.: 103,033

Capri .....128/269 Shields ..l28/269 X l,13l,575 3/1915 Tuttle ..l28/269 Primary Examiner-L. W. Trapp Anomey-Jemup 8t Beecher ABSTRACT An improved throat swab holder for use by an attendant or by the patient himself, and which is capable of removably supporting a wad of absorbent cotton, or the like, the absorbent cotton being saturated with an appropriate medicament. Tl-ie swab holder of the invention is constructed to have a shape appropriate for its easy insertion into the throat of the patient, and to have no sharp ends or edges. The swab holder is formed of a continuous wire which is looped at one end to form a handle or finger grip, and which is looped at the other end to form a means for holding a wad of absorbent cotton, or the like, in a locked position.

6ChimsJDnwlngngum THROAT swan HOLDER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Throat swabs are known in the art. However, the prior art throat swabs are difiicult to handle, especially by the patient himself. In addition, the prior art swabs are relatively complicated, and many have sharp ends and edges which can pierce and damage the throat tissue. The present invention provides an improved throat swab holder which is extremely simple in its construction, and which is easy to use, especially by the patient himself. The throat swab holder of the invention may be manufactured and sold at a low cost, and it is constructed so that the wad of absorbent cotton may be easily inserted and locked at one end of the holder. The absorbent cotton may then be saturated with the medicant to be used, and the patient himself may insert the swab down into his throat, with ease and comfort.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. I is a perspective representation of a throat swab holder constructed in accordance with one embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 2 represents various steps by which a wad of absorbent cotton may be inserted and locked into the looped end of the holder.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENT The throat swab holder shown in FIG. 1 includes an intermediate stem portion 10, a first looped handle or finger gripping end portion 100, and a looped end portion b. As shown, the holder of FIG. 1 is made from a single piece of wire. The wire is formed into a U-shape, and the bight of the U is looped back and welded to the stern portion adjacent the right-hand end of the stem, to form the looped end porn'on 10b. The intermediate wire sections forming the stern portion 10 are held in a spaced parallel relation by welds 12 positioned at spaced intervals along the stem. It is preferable for the wires to be held spaced from one another along the stem, so as to facilitate the cleaning of the instrument.

The other end of the holder is looped into the handle or finger gripping portion 10a, as shown, which lies on a plane perpendicular to the plane of the looped end portion 10b. The ends of the handle portion 10a are welded to the stem 10 adjacent the left-hand end thereof in FIG. I. The throat swab holder formed in FIG. 1 has a slight bowed or arcuate overall shape, so as to facilitate its insertion into the throat of the patient.

It will be observed that the looped end portion 10b defines a pair of spaced annular sections which are coaxial with an axis traversing the right-hand end of the stem portion 10. The annular sections preferably have an eliptical cross section, so as to facilitate the locking and holding of the absorbent cotton in the end portion 10b.

The wires used in the construction of the holder of FIG. I may be of the type presently sold under the trademark "IN- CONEL-OSI. The welds referred to above actually may be preferably silver solder. The wires should have sufficient flexibility so that the holder can be bent to a desired configuration,

to suit the preference of the individual user. The holder is easy to sterilize, merely by dropping it into boiling water. A roll of absorbent cotton may be easily inserted into the looped end portion 10b, and locked in position, by following the steps shown in FIG. 2.

As an initial step, a roll 14 of absorbent cotton, for example, about three inches long, is inserted through the annular wire sections at the looped end portion 10b, as shown in view A of FIG. 2. When the roll of absorbent cotton is in place, it is pulled out through the spaces between the annular wire sections, as represented by the step B of FIG. 2. Then, as shown by the solid lines in step C, the excess absorbent cotton is cut ofi' from each end of the roll. The swab can be made larger or smaller by cutting the cotton the distance required, as shown by the broken lines in step C. As a final step, and as shown In step D of FIG. 2, the absorbent cotton is fluffed out to complete the swab. A sharp round pointed pin, such as a large safety pin may be used in step D.

It will be appreciated that the throat swab shown by the step D of FIG. 2 is one in which there is no possibility whatever for the absorbent cotton to fall out from the looped end of the swab holder. Yet, the cotton is placed in the looped end in a simple manner, and merely by following the easy steps shown in FIG. 2. It will also be appreciated that the swab may then be easily inserted down into the throat by the patient himself, so as to perform the desired swabbing action.

It will be appreciated, of course, that although a particular embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, modifications may be made. It is intended in the following claims to cover all the modifications which fall within the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A throat swab holder formed of a single piece of wire looped into a U shape to define a central elongated stem portion formed of two adjacent and parallel intermediate wire sections, and to define a looped-over end portion at a first end thereof and defining a pair of annular wire sections coaxial with an axis traversing said first end of said stern portion and spaced from one another, so as to permit a roll of absorbent cotton to be inserted through said annular wire sections and pulled radially therebetween to a locked position, the bight extremity of said looped-over end portion being welded to said stem portion adjacent the end thereof.

2. The swab holder defined in claim I, and which includes weld means interposed between said intermediate wire sections to secure said intermediate wire sections to one another with a separation therebetween.

3. The swab holder defined in claim 1, and which includes a pair of looped-over end portions at the opposite end of said stem portion from said first end defining a handle for said holder in a plane perpendicular to the plane of said annular wire sections.

4. The swab holder defined in claim 3, in which the extremities of said last-named looped-over end portions are welded to said central stern portion adjacent said opposite end thereof.

5. The swab holder defined in claim 1, in which said annular wire sections each has an eliptical cross section.

6. The swab holder defined in claim I, in which said wire is formed of a flexible metallic material.

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1. A throat swab holder formed of a single piece of wire looped into a U shape to define a central elongated stem portion formed of two adjacent and parallel intermediate wire sections, and to define a looped-over end portion at a first end thereof and defining a pair of annular wire sections coaxial with an axis traversing said first end of said stem portion and spaced from one another, so as to permit a roll of absorbent cotton to be inserted through said annular wire sections and pulled radially therebetween to a locked position, the bight extremity of said looped-over end portion being welded to said stem portion adjacent the end thereof.
 2. The swab holder defined in claim 1, and which includes weld means interposed between said intermediate wire sections to secure said intermediate wire sections to one another with a separation therebetween.
 3. The swab holder defined in claim 1, and which includes a pair of looped-over end portions at the opposite end of said stem portion from said first end defining a handle for said holder in a plane perpendicular to the plane of said annular wire sections.
 4. The swab holder defined in claim 3, in which the extremities of said last-named looped-over end portions are welded to said central stem portion adjacent said opposite end thereof.
 5. The swab holder defined in claim 1, in which said annular wire sections each has an eliptical cross section.
 6. The swab holder defined in claim 1, in which said wire is formed of a flexible metallic material. 